New: Beautiful Futures Lab

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    • El Hondo Wetland
    • A Rich Worldview
    • Extending Ecology
    • Oika Cause and Affection
    • Expedition Zagori
    • Creative Coral
    • The Living Cosmos VR
    • Oika Interpretations

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The Beautiful Futures Lab

The Journey


The Beautiful Futures Lab is a traveling initiative bringing OIKA—a philosophy of life grounded in nature's intelligence—directly to communities across America.

In an age of screens, AI, and increasing disconnection, this cross-country journey offers what technology cannot: transformative encounters with the living world that restore our sense of belonging and possibility.


What We Offer


Free Public Talk: "Introduction to OIKA"

Duration: 60-90 minutes

A compelling presentation that shares:

  • The backstory of the Beautiful Futures Lab through Dr. Rich Blundell's personal journey
  • The development of Earthling Theory
  • OIKA's three core principles: Continuity, Relationality, and Entanglement
  • Practical applications for navigating our current challenges

Cost: Free to the public


Integrated Nature Walk

Duration: 1-2 hours

Following the talk, experience OIKA principles as felt, lived realities:

  • Guided observation in your local habitat
  • Practices for deepening ecological awareness
  • Direct encounters with the intelligence that creates healthy living systems
  • Cultivating new ways of seeing and being in nature

Cost: Nominal fee or free (determined by venue)


Weekend Workshops & Bespoke Programming

For deeper exploration, we can develop:

  • Multi-day workshops combining talks, nature immersion, and practices
  • Teaching residencies
  • Custom content for your community's interests
  • Programming designed around your local ecosystems


Who Should Host?


We're seeking partnerships with diverse venues and organizations:


Educational Institutions

  • Universities and colleges
  • K-12 schools
  • Community colleges
  • Adult education programs


Conservation Organizations

  • Nature centers
  • Land trusts
  • Wildlife organizations
  • Ecological restoration projects


Cultural Venues

  • Museums and art galleries
  • Bookstores and libraries
  • Cafes and community spaces
  • Music venues
  • Innovation and maker spaces


Think outside the box! Anywhere people gather to learn, create, and grow.


OIKA Star Certification

Beyond hosting single events, explore becoming part of OIKA's growing network.

OIKA Star certification trains individuals to become certified representatives who can continue this work in their communities through the Beautiful Futures Lab curriculum.

If you're interested in:

  • Professional certification in ecological intelligence
  • Bringing transformative programming to your region
  • Building regenerative career pathways
  • Joining a community of practice

Let's start a conversation about partnership possibilities.


What Makes This Different?


Grounded in Science

25+ years of field ecology across diverse Earth systems—from African savannas to New England coasts—inform every aspect of OIKA.


Culturally Responsive

While rooted in nature, OIKA creates change through culture, meeting communities where they already gather and create meaning.


Practically Transformative

This isn't abstract philosophy—it's a way of seeing that changes how people experience themselves and their relationship with the living world.


Self-Contained

Dr. Blundell travels in his 4WD camper. Hosting requires no housing—just a venue and an enthusiastic community.


About Dr. Rich Blundell


Dr. Rich Blundell is an ecologist who has spent over 25 years apprenticed to Earth's ecosystems, learning what he calls ecological intelligence. His work bridges rigorous science with transformative wisdom, offering pathways through our current crises that reconnect us with nature's intelligence.

OIKA emerged from this work as a philosophy that recognizes: the intelligence that builds galaxies, grows forests, and creates healthy living systems lives in each of us.


Contact & Booking


Interested in hosting the Beautiful Futures Lab?

📧 Email: omniscopic@gmail.com
🌐 Website: oika.com

The Beautiful Futures Lab is an OIKA project bringing ecological intelligence to communities through education, experience, and cultural transformation.

Real intelligence. Real experiences. Real nature. Real people.

Upcoming BFL events

Rich shows participants how to feel forest fractals and participate in the deeper connections and entanglements with nature (clip filmed by Rita Leduc)

Rich talks about the Call & Response to the Metacrisis

Beautiful Futures Lab Upcoming Events

A sample of Oika Content

Testimonials

Blundell's view of creativity and ecology as inseparable made me start to see them as one. This made me realize how disconnected I am from the natural world and how important it is to think about my existence in a more interconnected way. I’m now thinking more about how I can heal both my inner self and the planet by embracing creativity and ecology together instead of seeing them as separate.
-- Cohort Student


I needed this to bring that connection back to place myself into the right direction again. belonging to this planet that we’re all disconnected from. It’s made me so motivated to push what I love to do further with a new purpose and new energy to my work.

    -- Chelsea, Artist


Rich Blundell’s ideas about creativity and being active participants in the story of the cosmos really stood out to me. It expanded my worldview in a way I wasn’t expecting, and now I’m thinking more about how science, art, and even spirituality can all work together to help us understand our place in the world.
-- Cohort Student


Today I was attending the walk with Dr. Rich Blundell at Gardner Farm and it was such a great afternoon.  So I enjoyed taking a family that was visiting with us and the teenage children.  We are still talking about the walk and more importantly Dr. Blundell’s way of engaging a very interesting story that captured all our attention, from adults to tweens/teens.  It's rare that a learning event can do that for all age groups.  I just wanted to pass along some recognition of his engaging presentation that has me wanting to learn more. 

-- Claire Shields


Blundell’s "Earthling Theory" further expanded my thinking, presenting a comforting, revolutionary idea that humans act with—not upon—the Earth. Ultimately, this week inspired and gently challenged me, leaving me humbled, slightly dizzy in the best way, and eager to explore our profound, interconnected existence.
-- Cohort Student


Thank you again so much for the amazing presentation of "The Big History"!  It wildly exceeded our expectations! As we said, your work is so incredible, and your message is so important! We feel very fortunate to have been able to see and hear it! Also, Patty and I loved how you discovered and shared Maria Mitchell’s words…what a “connection” and further proof of the holistic “interconnectivity” of it all!!   

-- William and Patty Ott


Blundell's point how creativity has and always will be the driving force of all life and that humans are both the products and participants of this creativity resonated with me. I never thought of life in the science of creativity. However, now thinking of it, it makes sense how humans are both the product and participate with it.
-- Cohort Student


"I just wanted to say thank you for the work you’re doing and for inviting me into it. The Trello board you’ve created is amazing, and the videos are beautiful, charming and incredibly inspiring. Maybe I’m wrong, but it feels like you’ve updated our Creation story, allowing in as much as we can currently know about ourselves as Earthlings and our place in the Universe. It’s an ambitious and impressive undertaking and you’ve done an astonishing job." 

--Jessica Waite, writer

I am definitely inspired by the content in which we discuss Earthling Theory and how [Elizabeth] Kolbert and Blundell have very different views. In my opinion, they are both not wrong, they just come from totally different ways of seeing the world. Kolbert shows how humans have always impacted the earth, often in destructive ways, while Blundell talks about humans as part of a larger ecological story, evolving WITH the earth, not just acting on it. That contrast made me stop and think- maybe the real issue isn’t just what we do, but how we see ourselves in relation to the world. Are we separate from nature, or part of it? Exactly what this course has been emphasizing on!
-- Cohort Student


"I’m so en-joying and appreciating what you’re up to.I understand why it can feel grandiose at times, because the scope is so big, and the stakes are so high. And, of course, Oika is a miracle, and human beings are hungry for exactly the story you’re sharing, and the way you’re empowering us to experience it together. Please keep going. It’s so worth it." 

-- Sandra Wells


When Rich Blundell discussed the universe as a "primary text" , it  broadened my viewpoint in unexpected ways. I found myself thinking more carefully about the relationships between nature and meaning. I feel more encouraged to think more openly.
-- Cohort Student


Ideas that highlight the connections between nature and humanity are seen within the learning experiences of the Oika program. I'm excited about incorporating this content not only into my own studio practice, but also into my teaching deliveries as an art and design professor. I'm excited about working with the Oika program in the near future.

-- Kat, Artist & Teacher 


One thing I learned from the project examples this week is the idea that nature isn't something that's out there but something deeply connected to us. I liked how Oika talks about a kind of ancient intelligence that lives within all of us, even if it's stagnant. That really made me think differently about how we interact with the environment. What stood out to me is the idea that this connection is creative. It reminded me that our projects don't solely have to show climate problems itself but can also be about remembering our bond with the planet and sparking that in others.
-- Cohort Student


The Oika experience made me feel connection, again, between my relationship with the earth and myself as a human. From this, I felt a new sense of creative purpose arise. One with a mission to share what I’ve learned with the world of busy individuals disconnected from our home. Perhaps a calm and connected state of mind and a form of self love. A new purpose to my creative work and how I can use that to share that with the world and allow them to know that they can have that connection too.

-- Chelsea, Artist


I was especially moved by Rich Blundell's idea that creativity and ecology are deeply connected. That really resonated with me. It made me feel empowered, like my own creativity can actually be a part of a bigger ecological story.
-- Cohort Student


To be honest, at first, I felt resistant. The readings and ideas introduced were pretty far from my usual way of thinking. The concept of seeing everything—nature, life, and knowledge—as interconnected felt almost dizzying at times. I’m used to more structured or compartmentalized thinking, so this holistic view felt a bit disorienting. However, as I sat with the material more, I started to feel more inspired. The idea of moving beyond our narrow frameworks and being open to new perspectives was empowering, especially in the context of environmental art and ecological thinking.
-- Cohort Student


What really struck me was how interconnected everything is—how our personal choices, the health of the planet, and our relationships with each other are all tied together. It didn’t exactly deny my worldview, but it expanded it. I realized that there’s a lot more at play in our interactions with the world than I had previously considered.
-- Cohort Student


Overall, I think this helped me grow in my thinking, even if it left me feeling a bit shaken at first. It’s a process of unlearning, which is uncomfortable but necessary.
-- Cohort Student


Note: These testimonials are compiled from across a diversity of workshops, courses, and field research trips, some of which were co-delivered with Rich's collaborator, Rita Leduc.

Principle Investigator: Dr. Rich Blundell

Oika Research and The Beautiful Futures Lab is founded by Dr. Rich Blundell based on his life spanning ecological fieldwork, cosmological research, and the communication of complex neurophenomenological insights. As a “systems whisperer,” Dr. Blundell has developed the capacity to read emerging patterns across scales and substrates and respond with insights that integrate nature’s wisdom.  His life's work is to enlist Oika in the generation of novel value-meaning matrices, and to translate ecological intelligence into strategic narratives for expanding project reach, institutional resilience and systemic health.


As economic incentives collide with ecological imperatives, Dr. Blundell believes that leaders and organizations that engage the principles of Oika will cultivate the systemic awareness to navigate change, transform challenge into innovation, and create a beautiful future.

Oika Research Documentation

    Beautiful Futures Lab Affiliates

    Oika Research is proud to have affiliations at the following:

    Maria Mitchell Association, Great Harbor Yacht Club Foundation, Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, Rutgers University, Smith College and MacLeish Field Station, The Organization of Biological Field Stations, American Anthropological Association, Syracuse University, The Museum of the White Mountains at Plymouth State, EcoMuseum Zagori, El Hondo Wetland

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